Question

I’m currently writing a little GUI program that does some work and exits afterwards. While work is done, the GUI thread is updated with infos for the user.

This is the pattern I’m currently using and I’m thinking it’s not the most elegant one:

static void MainForm_Loaded(BeoExport exporter)
{
    // Thread 1 runs the Export
    workerThread = new Thread(() =>
    {
        exporter.StartExport();
        // don't exit immediately, so the user sees someting if the work is done fast
        Thread.Sleep(1000);     
    });

    // Thread 2 waits for Thread 1 and exits the program afterwards
    waiterThread = new Thread(() =>
    {
        workerThread.Join();
        Application.Exit();
    });

    workerThread.Start();
    waiterThread.Start();
}

So what pattern/mechanics would you use to do the same?

To clarify: I was not interested in a way to update the GUI thread. That’s already done. This might sound esoteric but I was lookig for the right way to quit the application.

If I could, I would give Dave the credits, since he pointed out the usefulness of the BackgroundWorker.

Answer 1

Have you considered a BackgroundWorker thread instead? You can use its ReportProgress method and ProgressChanged event to update the GUI (with a progress bar perhaps), assuming that you can refactor BeoExport.StartExport method to also report progress. This gives the users visible feedback that work is actually happening.